


Hoth Chocolate

by cuddlesome



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cookies, Han Solo Lives, Hot Chocolate, Kissing, M/M, Redeemed Kylo Ren, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-09 18:04:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8906386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlesome/pseuds/cuddlesome
Summary: The newest member of the Resistance reluctantly helps Finn and some liberated stormtrooper children celebrate Life Day.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [purplequeenppgz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplequeenppgz/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, purplequeenppgz! I hope you like my take on your prompt. :D
> 
> "Kylo and Finn are spending their first Christmas together. Kylo learns Finn volunteers during Christmas/Life Day to help the needy. Kylo fails to see the point of it (being self centered and a bit spoiled by his parents) Finn drags him along to teach him some compassion."

Kylo Ren, once one of many scary, faceless masked figures to Finn in the First Order made scarier by mystical powers, has now become a fixture in the Resistance. That is to say, a very big, very sulky fixture that still insists on wearing black everywhere he goes but also makes an effort to atone for what he’s done in the past with some good.

 

Han Solo continues to insist Kylo’s presence is a Life Day miracle in spite of his son’s return occurring a couple of weeks before Life Day. His justification is that the entire month is basically devoted to the holiday, anyway.

 

Kylo’s relationship with Finn had initially been a rickety one punctuated by glares and avoidance. It took some time for them to realize they both knew the First Order more than anyone else on D’Qar could and in that they found common ground. While training to use the Force and a lightsaber was a bit different than a blaster, Kylo knew about the harsh living conditions on Starkiller, the brainwashing propaganda, and the sensation of being hidden continually by a mask. On some level, Finn couldn’t help but relate to him.

 

Thus, Finn amounted to Kylo’s only real friend on the base. Rey and Poe were still a bit too shell shocked from his mind reading to trust him just yet and no one else would even begin to consider more than the minimum amount of contact. His parents and uncle spoke to him, but it always came off a bit stilted.

 

Isolated as he is, Finn gets the sense Kylo takes a lot of comfort in their exchanges, even if he's reluctant to admit it.

 

Kylo is also one of few people Finn knows who has a firm grasp on Life Day traditions aside from Chewie, who had gone home to Kashyyk to celebrate with his family before Finn got a chance to ask him about it. Few of the Resistance members seem to have the time or energy to celebrate the holiday outside of small, private parties that Finn doesn’t think he should interrupt. Poe offered to let him surf the HoloNet, but there is far too much conflicting information when it comes to the old traditions versus the new ones in Finn’s opinion. That leaves Kylo to help him.

 

“No,” Kylo says the moment Finn asks.

 

He glowers at Finn over the rim of the cup of hot chocolate he had given him in the hopes of buttering him up. Hey, Luke Skywalker went to pieces for the stuff, so Finn figured maybe it would work on his nephew. While Kylo is absorbed in lapping at the whipped cream and taking hearty gulps of the hot chocolate, it seems to have done little to convince him.

 

“Oh, come on,” Finn says, and because really he’s run out of cleverer ways to try to convince Kylo, he adds the ever-cliché phrase: “Think of the children!”

 

The children that he referred to were some of the young stormtroopers-in-training rescued from the First Order by the Resistance. They never experienced Life Day before and Finn volunteered to help them put together a party. His eagerness to help the children made him forget that he didn’t know the first thing about the holiday.

 

Kylo glowers some more and it’s made a bit less intimidating by a dollop of whipped cream he ended up with on the end of his nose. Finn’s mouth contorts as he tries to force down a smile.

 

“The answer is still no,” Kylo says. “I hate children.”

 

“Why, though? I would’ve thought you’d relate to them.”

 

Kylo rubs his face with his wrist, succeeding in removing the whipped cream. “What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“Uh.” Suddenly perceiving that he may have said too much, Finn laughs and puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Nothing.”

 

What he thinks, though, is that Kylo is stubborn, more than a little selfish, and has temper tantrums on a regular basis. He’s a little childish. That hasn’t stopped Finn from coming around to liking him, though. Despite all of his mood swings, Kylo can be a gruff sort of benevolent, especially when it comes to Finn.

 

With this in mind, Finn blurts, “Would you consider doing it for me?”

 

Finn has to resist covering his face following that question. That is the sort of line that Poe delivers, not him. Poe would have said it with a lot more confidence, too, and maybe not to someone he didn’t think he had a chance with.

 

Kylo blinks hard and then gives him a long look. For the three seconds that pass as though they are eons, Finn wants to die.

 

Sighing through his nose, Kylo looks down at the dregs of hot chocolate at the bottom of his mug. “You’ll have to start by making the Hoth variant of hot chocolate with a lot of different spices. It’s the most popular Life Day drink.”

 

“Wait—is that your weird way of saying yes?” Finn does a small fist pump because he just can’t help himself. “You’ll help me and the kids celebrate Life Day?”

 

Kylo makes a noncommittal grunt and looks away. For his second extremely impulsive action of the day and counting, Finn gives him a hug. He flees before Kylo can reprimand him (or return the hug, for that matter, but what are the odds of him doing that?), calling over his shoulder that he’ll contact him the next day to make plans. He misses the blush on Kylo’s pale face poorly hidden by him lifting the mug up and ducking his head to cover himself.

 

Finn’s next order of business is to borrow a Life Day tree from Han Solo. He didn’t know much about Life Day, but it was hard to miss the bauble- and tinsel-covered holographic trees springing up around the base.

 

“One holographic wroshyr tree, coming up,” Han Solo says as he pulls a palm-sized projector from inside a compartment in the Millennium Falcon. “Luckily, I got this through mostly honest methods. This counts as my gift to you, by the way. Happy Life Day.”

 

Finn opens his mouth and Han lifts a finger.

 

“Listen, kid, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: the entire month is Life Day. Don’t mess this up.”

 

Finn closes his mouth and accepts the proffered holographic projector.

 

“So, are you setting up by yourself?”

 

“Well, actually, sir…”

 

Finn explains that Kylo is helping him out with the former stormtrooper children.

 

“No kidding?” Han shakes his head. “Ben isn’t usually about that sort of thing. Leia and I sort of failed at teaching him that whole ‘selfless acts of kindness’ aspect of Life Day. Yuck. Can’t imagine why. I feel like my teeth just rotted a little saying something so _sugary_.”

 

Finn knows Han won’t like having his own selflessness pointed out, but he tells him he’s grateful for the Life Day tree regardless. He’s waved off in with a huff from Han that reminds him a lot of the war hero’s son.

 

Getting the other decorations as directed by Kylo is just as easy. Everyone is in a pretty giving mood, which Finn is informed is as a result of the holiday spirit. It’s nice, and he tries to go out of his way to return the favors.

 

Kylo also supplies Finn with recipes for Hoth chocolate, Wookiee Cookies, and homemade ice cream he remembers from his youth when asked. He sneers and nurses the second mug of hot chocolate Finn brought him after being invited to join in on the cooking and festivities, though.

 

When Life Day rolls around, twenty or so rescued stormtrooper children help with some of the cooking, working in teams to complete tasks in the recipe. Finn is glad to see them playing, even if the ghost of the First Order’s training is still present in their play.

 

They are all monitored by some Resistance protocol droids ready to assist in case things get out of hand. Finn is grateful for the droids’ attempt to help. Unfortunately, they don’t move quite fast enough when one of the kids almost spills a bowl of dry ingredients on herself when trying to take it off of a high tabletop.

 

Finn winces and the girl cowers in preparation for the impact before the both of them realize that the bowl floats upright above her head. It drifts over to the doorway to the kitchen where Kylo Ren catches it and peers at the contents.

 

“You forgot the cinnamon,” he scoffs.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the children have abandoned their tasks for the moment to stare at the visitor. Finn can tell Kylo is simultaneously drinking in the attention and put off by having so many stares on him at once.

 

“Oh, man, that’s a good point. Who has the cinnamon?” Finn asks, managing to distract them with finding the missing ingredient for the moment as he makes his way over to Kylo.

 

He tries not to look smug as he nudges Kylo in the ribs with his elbow. “You do have a soft spot for them after all, don’t you? That was an interesting use of the Force.”

 

Kylo treats Finn to a glare, but once again his sweet tooth belies his intimidation tactics as he extracts a fingertip’s worth of sugar from the dry ingredients in the bowl and pops it into his mouth. Finn nudges him again, emboldened by the lack of a more violent response.

 

Before Finn can try any other ways to goad a reply out of him, they are interrupted by the arrival of the cinnamon. From there, the ingredients are all put together for various traditional goodies and left alone for a time to bake, heat up, cool, etc. Kylo refuses to help for all except the Hoth chocolate. This is in part because he wants to snack on the ingredients as he goes.

 

The vacant boardroom that Finn decorated with the Life Day tree and other assorted adornments in the form of streamers and ornaments is where the children exchange gifts. Kylo situates himself in a corner. He tolerates the children brave enough to wander up to him, indulging them with small tricks with the Force. Finn wonders just how much Kylo lied about hating them; he seems fairly relaxed and even affectionate. The vehement overcompensation from before could just be his parents rubbing off on him again, he reasons.

 

Finn joins Kylo at some point when he’s worn out a bit from running back and forth from the room to the kitchen to make sure everything is working out. He thinks he’ll get some respite from the young would-be stormtroopers, but they gather around them in a clearer cluster than before once he joins Kylo. Most are holding their new gifts from each other, save for one who has a peculiar plant in his hand.

 

Before Finn can be concerned about whether or not the red berries are toxic, the kid announces while holding the plant aloft in front of the two of them, “You gotta kiss.”

 

“We what?” Finn asks, taken aback but not altogether put off by the idea, which in turn startles him even more.

 

“It’s mistletoe.” The kid puffs out his cheeks and waves it back and forth in front of them. “Life Day tradition. You’re under it. You gotta!”

 

“That sounds fake,” one of the others says. “And they’re too tall to be under that.”

 

Now, Finn doesn’t know a lot about Life Day traditions, but this seems especially outlandish even next to horrible pun variations on hot drinks and holographic trees. How had one of the children who knew next to nothing about Life Day learned about such a tradition, anyway? Finn is about to ask whom he has come to think of as the go-to Life Day expert which of them is right, but he ends up interrupted by the same person he had been about to ask putting his lips to his. Their audience fades into the background for a long moment as Finn registers the softness of Kylo’s lips, the scent of holiday spices clinging to him, and the general giddy dizziness that comes with having his lowkey crush kiss him.

 

“Oooooooh!” Chorus the children.

 

Kylo finally pulls away and it is at once plain how pleased he is with himself for leaving Finn speechless for once. Before Finn can wonder whether or not he’d been set up—the kid holding the mistletoe high-fives his friend—Kylo leaves the room.

 

The children give Finn congratulatory pats on his arms, unaware of how he is still in a state of shock. He hasn’t been kissed… ever. Not that he remembers, anyway. He hopes he didn’t scare Kylo off with his sheer ineptitude when it came to kisses, especially Life Day kisses, which he gets the sense are more special somehow. He had been all but frozen during the encounter.

 

Fortunately for Finn’s confidence, Kylo returns. He’s holding a set of foam cups and the Hoth chocolate he made, which he distributes to all of the children, attempting to maintain his veneer of cantankerousness but letting a smile or two slip through at their earnest thanks. One of the protocol droids arrives with a batch of cookies next, giving Kylo an opportunity to pick his way through the crowd to hand Finn a cup. Finn takes a sip and is pleased to find he likes the additional spices.

 

They share an unprompted kiss, then, and it feels all the better to Finn after seeing Kylo demonstrate that he did, in fact, understand that whole ‘selfless acts of kindness’ aspect of Life Day.

**Author's Note:**

> [Hoth chocolate,](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hoth_chocolate) [Wookie Cookies,](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wookiee_Cookie) and ice cream are all legit things that are used to celebrate Life Day, as are [Life Day trees.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Life_Day_tree) Luke Skywalker also had [a thing for hot chocolate](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hot_chocolate/Legends) in the EU. Kissing under the mistletoe, however, is a uniquely Earthian tradition. I'm sure that the Star Wars universe would adopt it once they found out about it. ;)


End file.
